What I Know You Need

As always, life (kids) have gotten in the way and I can't seem to find the time to post as much as I'd like to! Anyway, as a reminder of what these posts are... 
I have been wanting to do weekly posts on what I'm loving for awhile now. I have found so many favorites lately and want to share them with all of you! These posts will never be sponsored and my faves will always be stuff I have purchased and used. And trust me... You want to trust me on this. Alright?
1. These Nike Dri Fit Jogger Pants are AMAZING. The material is like this stretchy heavenly stuff that dreams are made of but they still look nice enough to wear out. Dare I even say with heels? Maybe that's pushing it... But you can look pretty close to being 'put together' while maintaining extreme comfort. Which is really my goal in life. And they'd be great to work out in, but you know, I don't do that so... You can buy them here for $74.00.
2. Okay this Vegetable Spiralizer is life changing. We try to eat as healthy as possible when we're home, and this kitchen gadget makes it all the more easy AND fun to do so! Think homemade french fries, zucchini noodles, onion rings... Just to name a few. The possibilities are endless! There are three different attachments to give you different sizes of spirals too. Wren and Rad got ours from Spoons and Spice for me for Christmas (As Rad calls it, Spice and Spoons, so cute!) but they don't have a way to purchase online so here's a link to buy on Amazon for $36.94. 
3. So I have pretty much been sick on and off for six weeks. It's been a freakin' nightmare to say the least. BUT one thing that's made it more bearable are these Dr. Teal's Cold and Allergy Epsom Salts and Foaming Vapor Bath. I've like Dr. Teal's regular epsom salts for awhile, but their new Cold and Allergy line is unreal. It smells amazing, clearing out your sinuses (which is what the regular one does too), but these cold and allergy epsom salts make your whole body tingle. It's unreal! And then everyone likes amazing smelling bubble bath, right? Get these things even if you're not sick and use em' before you go to bed. You'll thank me later! I get mine from Smith's Market Place but you can also buy both from Amazon. The epsom salts are here for $9.99 and the foaming vapor bath, here, for $8.99.
4. Okay so I walked out of the elevator at City Creek, into Macy's last week, and these pants were pretty much smiling at me as I stepped out. Randomly, they are in the little boys section, and I'm just so terribly pleased our stars aligned for us to meet! These are insaaanely comfortable and super cute. I don't think anyone can have enough cute sweatpants, can they? Add in jogger and stonewashed and gray, and I'm SOLD! They are on sale right now and you can buy from Macy's here for $27.99. I bought a size medium and wear a size 4.
5. I have what feels like a million of these lip glosses. I'm kind of a lip gloss fiend and these are my all time favorite right now. They're not too sticky, but thick enough to stay on for a good while. The colors are vibrant but not overpowering. My fave colors are Dolly Girl, Spicy, and Natural. You can buy here for $6.00 each, on Amazon. What are YOUR favorites right now!?
You can see more posts like this here, here, and here.

What I Know You Need

So... This week's favorites are:

(Sorry I missed last week!)

1. I have seen lots of people fill in their eyebrows over my long, almost THIRTY year, lifetime (Yikes, thirty?!) Some are good. Some are baaaaad. But it had never even occurred to me to do it on myself. After all, I have theeee thickest eyebrows on the planet. I could pluck 'em every single day and they'd still need to be plucked. In fact, my husband is always saying how the Knudsons have the most distinctive look, and I'm always like, "What's the look???" And he finally pinpointed the obvious... "Huge eyebrows!" Thanks dude. Anyway... Let this be a lesson to you. Even us thick eye-browed people can still benefit from filling them in. It helps shape them and fill in the more sparse areas. I'm obsessed with this gimme BROW, by benefit. It blends in perfectly with my natural color, isn't over bearing, easy to work with and wipe off the mistakes, AND has a little gel to it to keep my long (yes I said long) brows in place. Sometimes they like to curl onto the skin underneath them. It's not sexy. It's way dumb. I get the medium/deep color. It's $22 and you can buy at Sephora, here.

2. K, I know I'm not the first person to fall in love with lululemon leggings, but this is for all the skeptics out there, because I was probably the biggest one of them all. "A hundred dollars for leggings?", I thought... Now that's just stuuuuupid. And I still feel like it is insane even typing it out. But let me tell you what, these Wonder Under Pants (roll downs) (in black), have got to be one of the highlights of my life! I'd be willing to drop $200, maybe $300 (okay that's pushing it... maybe) for these bad boys. After I had Everest, I just felt blah. My stomach was all stretched out and I felt so loose, well... everywhere! But these roll down (high-waisted) leggings seriously sucked all that in and made me feel skinny. And the price of feeling skinny when you're hormonal and tired and have a million dudes at your back for everything all the time? Priceless. I love that they don't have an elastic at the top of the waist band either which makes them suck in your tummy, without cutting it off, if that makes sense. They're so slimming yet so comfortable too. The perfect combo! I've worn and washed them a hundred times already and they look and fit exactly like they did the day I bought them. Also. the materiel doesn't get all bally looking (my biggest pet peeve!). They work whether you're at the gym, running errands, or for a night out on the town with a cute top. So versatile! Invest in a pair. It'll probably be the last pair of leggings you'll ever have to buy. FYI, they say to go up a size from what you normally are, but I went down a size. Nothing bugs me more than a baggy legging. You can buy them here, for $102, on lululemon's site. P.S. I have another pair of their leggings and have tried on almost all of their roll down ones, and I don't like any of them nearly as much as the exact legging I linked to, up there.

3. This Coconut + Lemon, Everyone Lotion, is the best allover body lotion for when I get out of the tub. Why? It smells AMAZING, like a full on beach experience, is the perfect consistency (not to heavy or light), has no weird chemicals or parabens in it, and is huge! Did I mention it smells amazing? I bought mine at Whole Foods for $9.99 or you can buy it online, here, from Target, for $9.99.

4. I've always been a lover of Mac eye shadow, but I particularly love this Pro Longwear Paint Pod eye shadow. It goes on creamy, is easy to blend, and dries in the prettiest shade. It stays on all day and I love the shimmer to it. I want it in every color. But you know... I ain't rich. I have it in the shade, Frozen Violet. You can buy here, for $21.00, on Sephora's website.

Hope you find these posts helpful or just fun. You can see the other two posts I've done, like this one, here and here, if you missed them!

What I Know You Need

Hey! I'm excited to share a couple more of my faves with you guys this week! If you missed my first one of these posts last week, check it out here. And again, everything I list in these posts will be things I have and have tried (obviously because I have them). Get it?
Alrighty...
1. I'm obsessed with Baublebar jewelry lately. I love their bright, vintage looking style. I have the three items shown above and wear them all the time! They are of such good quality and look cute with just about everything. Earrings are on sale for $20 right now and can be found here. Bracelet on sale for $15 and can be found here. Necklace on sale for $20 and can be found here. Check out all their stuff though! So many fun pieces to choose from!
2. Okay. Two words for ya. Dirty secret. Finding time to do just about anything with my two guys constantly on my six, is really difficult, and that includes washing my hair! I've tried different dry shampoos and this one is my fave by far. Not only does it eat away the grease, but somehow, magically, it gives your hair tons of volume! I always spray it in planning to just throw my hair in a pony, but it honestly makes my hair look so clean, I end up wearing it down. Every time. Who can wear their hair down when it's dirty!? Amazing. You can buy it here on Amazon for $15.50. Or if you're close to me I'll take you to the beauty supply store, I think it's like $10 there. Worth every dirty penny!
3. K, it's so hard finding womens' all natural deodorant. All the ones I've tried either stink, don't stop me from stinking, or give me a rash. But I'm here to tell you, I finally found one that smells amazing, is all natural, AND kicks my B.O. out the winda! Lavanila people! Regular deodorants have some seriously scary ingredients so run, run, run and pick this up for yourself. You can buy it online here for $14, or go into Sephora and try all the different scents. The vanilla grapefruit pictured above is my favorite one, but you know, different strokes for different folks... You'll love it!
4. Now last, but definitely best, is this Naked Coconut, Coconut Bliss dairy-free ice cream. I went off of dairy after Bear was born because it was bugging his little tummy, but what's a girl that eats ice cream every single night to do that can't have dairy? Coconut ice cream. Every time, all day long. You guys... it's BANANAS how good this stuff is! This, by far, is the best brand of coconut ice cream too. I get mine from Whole Foods for $6.99, but if there's not a Whole Foods by you, check out here where the closest place is to you to buy it. It's soooo dumb how good this is.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this! Now go nuts and buy all of it! You won't regret it.

What I Know You Need

So for awhile now, I have been wanting to do weekly posts about what I'm loving. I have found so many favorites lately and want to share them with all of you! The three dudes I am living under the same roof with just do not understand when I tell them how awesome this or that is. Men... These posts will never be sponsored and the loot will always be stuff I have purchased and used. And trust me... You want to trust me on this. Alright?
So for this week, here's the awesomeness, the creams of the crop, the cherries on top:
1. Have you guys been to Lush? I have walked passed it a hundred times but had never gone in. Well I finally did, and the one little item I walked out with has been life changing. This Fair Trade Foot Lotion is made with cocoa butter, peppermint, spearmint, and arnica. I love putting it on my feet at night after the tub, and then putting big thick socks on. It tingles and has been helping my dry feet tremendously! It smells amazing and is so concentrated it should last me a year. Plus the packaging is super cute and I love the pink color. It's $23.95 right now and is buy one get one free (give the extra as a gift! The giftee with love!) Run, don't walk, people!
2. Zara kids' clothing has been my favorite place to buy Rad's stuff lately. Their clothes are so unique, the material is super high quality (important now that mister Bear will be using them too!), they fit true to size, and if you hit their sales their prices are really comparable to Gap sales and Old Navy. I'm obsessed with both their little boy and little girl lines and their baby stuff is super cute too. The items I posted above are some of the things I just bought Rad and I die at how cute he looks in them. You can find those specific items here, here, here, here, here, and here and they range from $9.99 to $19.99, or you can see all Zara kids' clothes here.
3. I have been wearing these high waisted jean leggings from Express on repeat for a month now. Since they are high waisted, they suck my post-baby tummy in (although I'm proud of that extra skin that helped bring my Bear Boy into the world!) They are super stretchy so really comfortable and unlike both my Grandma's, I love the distressed look. Sorry Grandmas. They are $88 right now, and worth every pretty penny!  
4. Okay, even as a licensed cosmetologist, I still never really found the professional stuff to be that much better than the grocery store brands. But that's coming from a total lover of Garnier Fructis conditioner. So... But recently I took my cousin to the beauty supply store to pick up some hair products and the girl there was telling us how amazing the Mythic Oil Loreal products are. Skeptically, I bought them and I'm so happy I did! You really can't believe the amazing-ness until you try these products. I bought the deep conditioner (pictured on the right), and then their smoothing serum duo (pictured on the left). They have made my hair so smooth, it's absolutely unreal. It's like crack for the hair. If any of you people want these, I will personally take you to the beauty supply store to pick them up. It will change your hair's life and save you a pretty penny from buying in a salon. The deep conditioner was about $30 I think, and the smoothing serum duo was $19.99. 
I hope you liked this post and there's many more where this comes from! 

4 Things of Mention from the Weekend...

1.  Baby sister Kate went to her VERY first FORMAL dance this weekend... SWEETHEARTS!  

She only had 30 minutes between her day activity and the dance, so Rache and I ran over and pulled out the BIG guns!  

It was stressful, but we got her done, and she looked GORGEOUS!  

Sad Kate...  You're growing up!

2.  We are on the house hunt and this majestically groovy house is one we had the pleasure of going through... 

Yes, that's.. count em... ONE, TWO, THREE colors of carpet.  Reminds me of the four corners...

Each room comes featured with it's own unique set of wood paneling to add a classy touch.

Don't even tell me the built in tissue holder isn't the most awesome thing you've laid your eyes on...

Yes, those are pheasants...

And you KNOW I'm dying over this animal print wall.

It was simply fantastic.

3.  We sat at my parents, in the same spot, for I'd say SEVEN hours talking and eating all the while.

My dad made a mean meat, that sat in his Egg for a full 24 hours, as well as homemade ice cream.

It was delicious.  

4.  I went to a Mac makeup party and everything was like 50% off.  I still am trying to figure out if it's too good to be true.

I got all of this...

(I love the purple eye shadow the most)

...for like $50.  I know, insane right? All of this would have been close to, if not more than, $100.  

If I host one of these parties, would you come???

Let me know!

Hope you had a great weekend as well!

Tomorrow we are having the CUTEST giveaway!  I could die.  It has to do with chubby babies and what they wear...  

So make sure to check back!!!  

PLUS last week's giveaway winner for the Local Giving Tree will be announced as well!  

Lusting After Short Hair....

Everywhere I look I spy cute short haircuts which makes it oh so tempting to chop mine off.  Yet every time I cut my hair I'm quite sad about it.... But the haircuts below are very tempting, don't you think?

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Which one's YOUR favorite?!

Do you THINK I should chop mine?  Be honest.....

PS Look who grew big and joined Pinterest?!  ME!  It truly is awesome, yet a little overwhelming.  There's too many cute things to even process.  If you want, find me there.  Currently I'm a loser :)

Craft Lake City

Two weekends ago Wren and I attended Craft Lake City at the Gallivan Center downtown.  It was right up my alley.  They had 180 different artists showcasing their different handmade items.  Everything was very affordable, so cute, and original.

Here are a couple of my favorite items, and ones I wish I would've purchased.

FYI, these are all taken with my camera phone, hence the blurry... sorry!

Isn't this little baby beanie adorable?!  SO cute! 

I loved these little birdie mobiles.

From the looks of it, Wren did too :)

This card is hilarious.  I should have bought it :)

 Now for some items I did buy. 

These handmade all natural cleaning agents by Nothing But Soap.  They are seriously THE BEST!

This is a bleach alternative.  It gets your whites whiter than bleach, is safe for your colors, and doesn't have all the harsh chemicals that bleach contains.  It's only $8.  So affordable!  It really does work great too.

This cleaning agent is a substitute for something such as 409 and can also be used on glass.  I hate using 409 because of all the fumes I inhale, but love it at the same time because it disinfects.  

Well this is the best of both worlds my friends, no harsh chemicals but it still disinfects.  Only $6.  What?!  YES!  

And my favorite, this laundry detergent.  It does up to 100 loads, can you believe that?  And it was only $12 measly little ones.  So cheap!  It left our clothes smelling so fresh and I love how tiny it is.  I hate the huge laundry detergent containers.  They suck to store and suck to throw away.  

This is just tucked away nicely where I can't even see it :)

Here is the information if you are interested in anything from Nothing But Soap.  

Go here to see fun packages she has of different cleaning agents and to purchase anything seen above.

And last, I love all natural lotion.  I can't stand lotion that smells too strong and hate feeling like the perfumes are going straight to my blood stream.  So I was really excited when I saw these natural lotion sticks made by Beehive Soap and Body Care.  They are so moisturizing and concentrated that you hardly need to use any of it and they are completely natural.

The flavor I got was kumquat and let me tell you what..... it smells divine.

Beehive Soap and Body Care sells so much more than just lotion.  Here are a couple stores they sell items out of in Utah.

Or go to their website here to see everything they make.

Favorites from Oprah's August 2011 Magazine

Whenever I flip through the pages of my magazines, especially Oprah, I find so many hidden gems I would have never otherwise found.  

Here are a couple I would like to share with those of you who do not read Oprah.  

Which if you don't, I really think you should :)

K don't you love these Saachi Marquis Bangles?   

I know I love me a good bangle!  These are only $31 with code OPRAH right now.  They can be found here.  I really like the black, green, and purple.

Have you heard of Amiclubwear?  I'm kind of confused as to why everything is so dirt cheap, but they do have some really cute shoes.

Take these for example....

So fun :)  And only $9.99?!!!  Ya I don't get it either.  

And if you spend $50 or more, shipping is free.  So basically you could get five shoes for $50 and pay no shipping.  Pretty funny, check their website out here.  

And last on my list are these organic chap-sticks.  I am a sucker for chap-stick and these flavors look delish!

Only $3 with code OPRAH.  They have even more flavors than shown above too so check them out here if you want.

Well I hope you have a great weekend!

I LOVE IPL Treatments :)

I've been rollin around like this all week.....

....because of my third IPL treatment.  

I know... frightening shots!

BUT, can I just tell you how much I LOVE these treatments though?!  That is, after THESE dark spots 

have worn off..... 

IPLs take away the little sun spots that I have on my face (that is what the brown is, they all just fell off today) and seriously make me not break out for like a whole month and a half.  Which for me, is a downright miracle... HALLELUJAH!  They are THE BEST!  Look on Groupon or Living Social Deals, they always have great deals for these treatments.  

Here's some info from Derma Network on IPLs.

IPL Fotofacial (Photofacial)

Every year, millions of patients visit the dermatologist office complaining of skin problems including fine lines and wrinkles, persistent red complexion, sun spots, acne scars, large pores and other blemishes. Various treatments, including microdermabrasion, chemical peels and laser resurfacing have been used to improve these conditions. Intense pulsed light is a new, non-ablative technique to treat the above described conditions and is also calledphotorejuvenation.

How does IPL (Fotofacial) work?

The IPL hand piece delivers high intensity pulses of broadband light that is different from the narrow band light of lasers. IPL, which stands for intensed pulsed light, is non-ablative meaning that is does not damage the surface of the skin. The intense light is delivered to the deeper parts of the skin (dermis) and leaves the superficial aspect of the skin (epidermis) untouched. There are different versions of IPL available on the market that target different structures in the skin. The PhotoDerm VL targets vascular lesions such as spider veins and vascular birthmarks. The PhotoDerm PL targets pigmented lesions such as melasma and age spots. The PhotoDerm HR and Epilight target hair. The thermal effect of IPL also causes production of new collagen, leading to improvement in wrinkles.

What are IPL’s advantages?

As discussed above, IPL does not damage the skin surface, unlike dermabrasion and laser resurfacing. Therefore, there is virtually no recovery time.” Treatments take approximately 30-45 minutes. Patients can apply makeup before leaving the office and return to work the same day. There is also minimal pain with IPL, unlike laser or radiofrequency resurfacing which both require topical anesthetic. Also, with IPL, a larger area can be treated at one time than with laser treatment.

What are IPL’s disadvantages?

Given that there is little damage to the skin surface, several treatments may be required to see the desired effect. For best results, approximately 4-6 treatments, spaced 3 weeks apart, are needed. Side effects can include transient redness and increased or decreased pigment in the treated area. Minimizing sun exposure can reduce these side effects.

How much does IPL cost?

Prices usually vary according to the ipl treatment size. The average cost for a FotoFacial/IPL is $350 - $600 each treatment, depending on the body part.

A consultation with a fotofacial specialist and the number of treatments needed will determine your ipl treatment cost.  

Anyway, just thought I'd share the love.  Let me know if you have any questions about IPLs, I did and had no one to ask!  I went in like a blind woman :)

Happy Thursday!

Lush: Fresh Handmade Cosmetics!!!

On Thursday I had a gum graft and a bone graft procedure.  Needless to say, I have been pretty pathetic....

Okay guys, it's safe to bring your eyes back to the computer screen now, this photo probably scared you half to death.  My apologies... I can't believe I actually posted this, but I wanted you all to see how much I look like a Who from WhoVille, this picture doesn't do this little Who the justice she deserves because in real life it's just plain disturbing how much I resemble one.... Apparently I also had a really tramatic night, look how I have sweat beads all over my face?  HIGH FASHION here everyone.... no need to tell me, I already know :)  

And then this morning I woke up with THIS little doozy on the inside of my lip

What's that you ask?  No one knows.  But my husband finds me very sexy right now... :)

Anyway, after making you throw up your lunch, there has been some goodness to all this, can I say, grossness?  Is that a word?  I have found a new FABULOUS website, in all my drab down time, from the best new blog I found called I Heart Betsy (you should all check out her blog, it is bomb), but the website I found there is called Lush, and it's fresh handmade cosmetics.  I am head over heals in LOVE.  I want to buy everything they have, no really, I think I just might.  Out of laziness, I copied this from their website, it explains who they are and what they do....

We believe in making effective products fromfresh, organic* fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics.

We invent our own products and fragrances. We make them fresh by hand using little or no preservative or packaging, using only vegetarian ingredients, and tell you when they were made.

We believe in buying ingredients only from companies that do not commission tests on animals and in testing our products on humans.

We believe in happy people making happy soap, putting our faces on our products and making our mums proud.

We believe in long candlelit baths, sharing showers, massage, filling the world with perfume and in the right to make mistakes, lose everything and start again.

We believe our products are good value, that we should make a profit and that the customer is always right.

* We also believe words like fresh and organic have honest meaning beyond marketing.

Isn't that so rad?!  I am always looking for yummy organic cosmetics, but they are so hard to come by. Here are some goodies on my LONG wish list....

This coconut deodorant.  My mom and husband always tell me how bad anti-perspirant (okay how do you spell that for cryin out loud?) is for you, but I can never find a woman's deodorant without it, I guess I could buy the kind my hub buys but then I'd smell like a man's man, which might be okay, but IF you don't want to smell like a dude, this is it babies!  I can't wait to try it.... mom aren't you proud? Now Sunny won't get Alzheimer's from the aluminum :)

I can never find makeup without SPF in it and I hate the chemicals in SPF, why subject yourself to them unless you're going to be in the sun a lot that day?  Which I'm not..... unfortunately :)  Plus, they make me break out, but what doesn't huh?  Anyway, this stuff looks awesome!  

I think this looks awesome.  It is a cleanser that also exfoliates.  It looks pretty powerful, but we all need a good exfoliation every once in awhile now don't we?  Um, Christie Brinkley for example?!?!  She said her secret is exfoliation.... and if she's doing it, I'M doing it :)  She's a total knockout babe, especially considering she is 57!  I still refuse to believe that...

This is another cleanser that looks great.  It says it is great for oil and spots, which I need.  Plus, it's so cute!

This looks like a great toner.  I'm excited to try it :)

This definitely is my favorite find from Lush.  This banana body cream made out of fresh bananas looks amaze.  Oh my gosh, it makes my mouth water even though it's not meant to eat.  If I get it, Wren might just find me in the bathroom sneaking it into my mouth.  AND who doesn't need a little sympathy sometimes?  You all know I do judging by the first half of this post!

This website also has these cool bath bombs that fizzle in the bath.  They even have ones that turn the water colors, like bright pink, or blue, how awesome it that?  I would have died to have one of these babies when I was little.

I think you should all go check out Lush's website here.... It's been great entertainment for me today in imagining everything I could buy and how I could be magically TRANSFORMED by all of it.... maybe?

And in WRAPPING up the longest novel ever written (my eyes are starting to cross from staring at the computer screen) my bosom buddy (member that from Anne of Green Gables?) Sara brought me this over today:

She knew I needed a pick me up.  And yes, it is as FABULOUS as it looks.  It is Raspberry Bread Pudding from Kneaders Bakery.  It was simply amazing and came RIGHT at the right time, isn't that what bosom buddies are for?!  Love you S!  

Have a GREAT Saturday SLC, I know I will!